Maria Menounos glows in more ways than one

Born: June 8, 1978, Medford, Massachusetts, United States

Height: 1.72 m

Nationality: American

Movies: Serial Buddies, Fantastic Four, Kickin' It Old Skool, Longtime Listener, Operation Shock and Awe... some

Siblings: Peter Menounos

Education: Emerson College, North Medford High School

Maria Menounos is an American actress, journalist, television presenter and occasional professional wrestler. She is known in the United States for her appearances as a correspondent for Today, Access Hollywood, Extra, and abroad for co-hosting the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 in Athens, Greece.

Early life and beauty pageants

Menounos was born in Medford, Massachusetts, to Greek immigrant parents Costas and Litsa Menounos. She has a younger brother, Peter, and is fluent in the Greek language. From age 13–19, she was an employee of Dunkin' Donuts. Menounos attended the Dormition of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church in Somerville, Massachusetts. Menounos attended Medford High School in Medford, MA. In 1995, Menounos began to compete in beauty pageants. The following year, she won the title of Miss Massachusetts Teen USA and competed at Miss Teen USA where she placed in the top 15, receiving an honorary mention, during the preliminary competition; Menounos placed 13th in preliminaries. The pageant was won by Christie Lee Woods. Maria competed for the title of Miss Massachusetts USA 2000; she was the first runner up.